Shower nozzle



Aplfil 28, 1953 w, sE 2,636,779

SHOWER NOZZLE Filed Jan. 24, 1950 ATTORNEY INVENTORK BY @W Patented Apr.28, 1953 Kenneth W. Senior, Louisville, Ky. M g

Application mm, '24, 1950, Serial No. 140,292 I 2 m (c1. ree -rel) 1(Granted under Title 35, U. s. Code (1952 I see. 266) The inventiondescribed herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or fortheGovernment for governmental purposes without the payment to. meof anyroyalty thereon.

This invention relates to shower nozzles and the like, and is directedprimarily to a simplified and inexpensive construction adapted for useby the armed forcesor othergroups of persons who may? find lit necessaryto ;use water containing varying degrees of foreign matter.

Portable showers used by the armed forces are often supplied with waterby pumping it from a nearby stream, pasteurizing it, and feeding it tothe shower heads. In this process it sometimes happens that grains ofsand or other foreign matter are sucked up through the inlet pipe andcarried thence to the showers where they seripusly interfere with theflow of water and necessitate frequent dismantling and thorough cleaningof the parts.

It is an object of this invention therefore to provide a spray structurewhich is so designed that the discharge outlet may be readily cleared'of foreign matter by the operator by merely tap- {ping the valve memberwith his finger while the .nozzle remains in use, and without thenecessity of dismantling any of the parts. Another object of theinvention resides in the construction of a spray nozzle having a minimumnumber of parts, and which is relatively inexpensive in manufacture.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description when taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of a manifold or the like towhich one of the spray nozzles is attached and shown in side elevation;

Figure 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view through the spraynozzle showing in dotted outline the pipe to which the nozzle isattached;

Figure 3 is an enlarged exploded view showing the nozzle casing partlybroken away and the spray head, stem and related parts in perspective;and

Figure 4 is an end elevational view of the nozzle looking into the endremote from the spray head.

Referring to the drawing in more detail the numeral l indicates amanifold or the like through which water is carried to an outlet pipe 2,and the numeral 3 indicates the spray nozzle in general. Numeral 4indicates a cylindrical casing forming the body of the spray nozzle andprovided with external screw threads 5 on one "end by means of which itmay be detachably connected to the outlet pipe 2, and with a knurledportion 5 at the other end by means of which it may be readily rotatedto engage the threads 5 with complementary internal threads within thepipe 2. An internal transverse partition 6 is mounted adjacent one endof the casing as clearly indicated in Figures 2 and 3.

The partition 6 is provided with a central aperture '1' in which isloosely'mounted a spray stem 8 provided with a spray head 9, the latterbeing of a diameter approximating that of the aperture 1. In order thatthe stem 8 and the spray head 9 may be maintained centrally of thecylindrical casing 4 the stem is provided with a pair oflongitudinally-spaced centering elements l0 and II. In the present formof the invention the members ill-ll are of substantially triangular formand of a size to contact the interior wall of the casing 4 therebymaintaining the shower stem centrally of the casing while permitting thepassage of water tothe outlet aperture 1 of the partition 6. In thisconstruction it is essential of course that the centering member Ill bemaintained in spaced relation to the outlet 1 so as to avoid closing thesame against the passage of water, and to this end the plate I0 isprovided with a plurality of longitudinally-extending lugs or stops l2integrally formed by being bent up from the plate I0 and extendingtowards the spray head 9. These several elements, namely, the stem 8,head 9, centering plates l0 and Ill, and

stops I2, are all permanently connected and form one of the two elementsof the spray nozzle.

In the operation of the device, the spray nozzle is normally inclineddownwardly from the horizontal, as indicated in Figure 1, and hence themovable unit 8-9 normally assumes the position shown in Figure 2 wherebyan annular space is provided for producing the desired spray. In theevent, however, that the movable element 8-9 should inadvertently bepositioned inwardly of the position shown in Figure 2 so that the sprayhead 9 would tend to more or less cut off the flow of water through theopening I, the force of the water contacting the centering elements Inand Il would force the spray head to its intended position, asindicated, so that the spray nozzle would be fully opened. In the eventthat the discharge outlet 1 of the nozzle should become clogged orpartly clogged by the accumulation of sand or other foreign mattercarried to the nozzle by water pumped from a stream or the like, it willbe apparent that the stoppage can be readily eliminated by tapping thespray head 9 with the finger so as to force the stem backwardly in thecasing 4 even to the extent of bringing the spray head 9 within theoutlet 1 if necessary. This tapping of the spray head may be repeatedseveral times so as to completely dislodge any sand or other materialwhich may tend to accumulate at the point of discharge, it beingunderstood of course that as soon as manual pressure is removed from thehead 9 the latter will be immediately forced outwardly to the limitpermitted by the stops [2 thereby loosening the material which may beclogging the outlet and Yersely of the casing intermediate the ends ofpermitting it to be carried away by the force OI the water pressureabout the outlet.

From the foregoing description taken in can nection with theaccompanying drawings it will be apparent to those skilled in the artthat I have devised an extremely simple and inexpensive construction ofspray nozzle comprising only one movable unit, and that the unit is soconstructed and arranged with respect to the casing that it may bereadily manipulated by the operator for the purpose of dislodgin anyobstruction to the now of water through the nozzle, without the use oftools, and without the necessity of disconnect! ing the nozzle ordismantling any of the parts thereof.

I claim: I

1. ,A shower nozzle comprising a casing having a plain cylindricalinterior, a disk fixed trans- 30 2.1423960 4 versely of the casingintermediate the ends of the latter and provided with a centralcylindrical passage, a spray head and stem loosely mounted in saidcylindrical passage for reciprocal move- 5 merit, a pair oflongitudinally-spaced non-circular plates fixed to the stem forcentering the same with respect to the casin and a plurality of stopsbent up from the plate neare t the cylindrical passage for limiting themovement of the 10 plate toward the passage.

2. A shower nozzle comprising a casing having a plain cylindricalinterior, a disk fixed transgthe latter and provided with a centralcylindrical 15; passage, a spray head and stem loosely mounted .in saidcylindrical passage for reciprocal movement, a pair oflongitudinally-spaced triangular plates fixed to the stem for centeringthe same with respect to the casing, and a plurality of 20 stops bent upfrom the edges of the plate nearest ,the cylindrical pasage, said, stopsbeing disposed intermediate the apices of the said plate.

' KENNETH W. SENIOR,

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,628,823 Chester et al May 111 92? Bucknell et al. July 15,1947

